Add --pre-releases support to gh aw upgrade and fix duplicate success symbol (#27401)

* feat: add upgrade pre-releases flag and fix success output

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/sessions/96178ed7-9483-4099-a0b0-98e95a0dad05

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

* chore: refine prerelease release selection helper

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/sessions/96178ed7-9483-4099-a0b0-98e95a0dad05

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: copilot-swe-agent[bot] <198982749+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: Copilot

.github/workflows/upgrade-test.yml

@@ -84,8 +84,9 @@ jobs:
           #   2. Runs `gh extension upgrade github/gh-aw`
           #   3. On Windows: binary is in use → rename+retry workaround is triggered
           #   4. Re-launches the freshly installed binary with --skip-extension-upgrade
+          # --pre-releases ensures the upgrade check considers prereleases.
           # --no-fix keeps the test focused: skips codemods, action updates, and compilation.
-          gh aw upgrade --no-fix
+          gh aw upgrade --pre-releases --no-fix
 
       - name: Verify version after upgrade
         shell: bash

pkg/cli/update_check.go

@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ const (
 	lastCheckFileName = "gh-aw-last-update-check"
 	// checkInterval is how often we check for updates (24 hours)
 	checkInterval = 24 * time.Hour
+	// maxReleasesToQuery is the maximum number of releases queried when prereleases are included.
+	maxReleasesToQuery = 50
 )
 
 // Release represents a GitHub release
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ type Release struct {
 	Name       string `json:"name"`
 	HTMLURL    string `json:"html_url"`
 	Prerelease bool   `json:"prerelease"`
+	Draft      bool   `json:"draft"`
 }
 
 // shouldCheckForUpdate determines if we should check for updates based on:
@@ -160,7 +163,7 @@ func checkForUpdates(noCheckUpdate bool, verbose bool) {
 	}
 
 	// Query GitHub API for latest release
-	latestVersion, err := getLatestRelease()
+	latestVersion, err := getLatestRelease(false)
 	if err != nil {
 		// Silently ignore errors - update check should never fail the command
 		updateCheckLog.Printf("Error checking for updates (ignoring): %v", err)
@@ -207,7 +210,7 @@ func checkForUpdates(noCheckUpdate bool, verbose bool) {
 }
 
 // getLatestRelease queries GitHub API for the latest release of gh-aw
-func getLatestRelease() (string, error) {
+func getLatestRelease(includePrereleases bool) (string, error) {
 	updateCheckLog.Print("Querying GitHub API for latest release...")
 
 	// Create GitHub REST client using go-gh
@@ -216,7 +219,19 @@ func getLatestRelease() (string, error) {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create GitHub client: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	// Query the latest release
+	if includePrereleases {
+		var releases []Release
+		err = client.Get(fmt.Sprintf("repos/github/gh-aw/releases?per_page=%d", maxReleasesToQuery), &releases)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to query releases: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		tag := findLatestPublishedReleaseTag(releases)
+		updateCheckLog.Printf("Latest published release (pre-releases allowed): %s", tag)
+		return tag, nil
+	}
+
+	// Query the latest stable release
 	var release Release
 	err = client.Get("repos/github/gh-aw/releases/latest", &release)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -234,6 +249,18 @@ func getLatestRelease() (string, error) {
 	return release.TagName, nil
 }
 
+// findLatestPublishedReleaseTag returns the first non-draft release tag from the
+// releases API response, skipping entries without tag names.
+func findLatestPublishedReleaseTag(releases []Release) string {
+	for _, release := range releases {
+		if release.Draft || release.TagName == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		return release.TagName
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
 // CheckForUpdatesAsync performs update check in background (best effort)
 // This is called from compile command and should never block or fail the compilation
 // The context can be used to cancel the update check if the program is shutting down

pkg/cli/update_check_test.go

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
 func TestShouldCheckForUpdate(t *testing.T) {
@@ -338,3 +340,51 @@ func TestCheckForUpdatesAsync_ContextCancellation(t *testing.T) {
 	// Note: The check might still run if it started before cancellation,
 	// so we just verify no panics occurred
 }
+
+func TestFindLatestPublishedReleaseTag(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		releases []Release
+		want     string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "returns first non-draft release tag",
+			releases: []Release{
+				{TagName: "v1.2.0-beta.1", Draft: false, Prerelease: true},
+				{TagName: "v1.1.0", Draft: false, Prerelease: false},
+			},
+			want: "v1.2.0-beta.1",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "skips draft releases",
+			releases: []Release{
+				{TagName: "v1.3.0", Draft: true},
+				{TagName: "v1.2.0", Draft: false},
+			},
+			want: "v1.2.0",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "skips empty tags",
+			releases: []Release{
+				{TagName: "", Draft: false},
+				{TagName: "v1.0.0", Draft: false},
+			},
+			want: "v1.0.0",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "returns empty when no published releases",
+			releases: []Release{
+				{TagName: "", Draft: true},
+				{TagName: "", Draft: false},
+			},
+			want: "",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := findLatestPublishedReleaseTag(tt.releases)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.want, got, "unexpected latest published release tag")
+		})
+	}
+}

pkg/cli/update_extension_check.go

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ var updateExtensionCheckLog = logger.New("cli:update_extension_check")
 // baked in. The caller should re-launch the freshly-installed binary (at
 // installPath) so that subsequent work (e.g. lock-file compilation) uses the
 // correct new version string.
-func upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(verbose bool) (bool, string, error) {
+func upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(verbose bool, includePrereleases bool) (bool, string, error) {
 	currentVersion := GetVersion()
 	updateExtensionCheckLog.Printf("Checking if extension needs upgrade (current: %s)", currentVersion)
 
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(verbose bool) (bool, string, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Query GitHub API for latest release
-	latestVersion, err := getLatestRelease()
+	latestVersion, err := getLatestRelease(includePrereleases)
 	if err != nil {
 		// Fail silently - don't block the upgrade command if we can't reach GitHub
 		updateExtensionCheckLog.Printf("Failed to check for latest release (silently ignoring): %v", err)

pkg/cli/update_extension_check_test.go

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func TestUpgradeExtensionIfOutdated_DevBuild(t *testing.T) {
 	// Verify the function exits before making any API calls.
 	// If it did make API calls we'd see a network error in test environments,
 	// but the function must return (false, "", nil) immediately.
-	upgraded, installPath, err := upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(false)
+	upgraded, installPath, err := upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(false, false)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "Should not return error for dev builds")
 	assert.False(t, upgraded, "Should not report upgrade for dev builds")
 	assert.Empty(t, installPath, "installPath should be empty for dev builds")
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func TestUpgradeExtensionIfOutdated_SilentFailureOnAPIError(t *testing.T) {
 	// Use a release version so the API call is attempted
 	SetVersionInfo("v0.1.0")
 
-	upgraded, installPath, err := upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(false)
+	upgraded, installPath, err := upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(false, false)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "Should fail silently on API errors")
 	assert.False(t, upgraded, "Should not report upgrade when API is unreachable")
 	assert.Empty(t, installPath, "installPath should be empty when API is unreachable")

pkg/cli/upgrade_command.go

@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ Examples:
   ` + string(constants.CLIExtensionPrefix) + ` upgrade --create-pull-request  # Upgrade and open a pull request
   ` + string(constants.CLIExtensionPrefix) + ` upgrade --dir custom/workflows  # Upgrade workflows in custom directory
   ` + string(constants.CLIExtensionPrefix) + ` upgrade --audit           # Check dependency health without upgrading
-  ` + string(constants.CLIExtensionPrefix) + ` upgrade --audit --json    # Output audit results in JSON format`,
+  ` + string(constants.CLIExtensionPrefix) + ` upgrade --audit --json    # Output audit results in JSON format
+  ` + string(constants.CLIExtensionPrefix) + ` upgrade --pre-releases    # Include prerelease versions when self-upgrading the extension`,
 		Args: cobra.NoArgs,
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			verbose, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("verbose")
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ Examples:
 			jsonOutput, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("json")
 			skipExtensionUpgrade, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("skip-extension-upgrade")
 			approveUpgrade, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("approve")
+			preReleases, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("pre-releases")
 
 			// Handle audit mode
 			if auditFlag {
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ Examples:
 				}
 			}
 
-			if err := runUpgradeCommand(cmd.Context(), verbose, dir, noFix, noCompile, noActions, skipExtensionUpgrade, approveUpgrade); err != nil {
+			if err := runUpgradeCommand(cmd.Context(), verbose, dir, noFix, noCompile, noActions, skipExtensionUpgrade, approveUpgrade, preReleases); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 
@@ -115,6 +117,7 @@ Examples:
 	cmd.Flags().Bool("pr", false, "Alias for --create-pull-request")
 	_ = cmd.Flags().MarkHidden("pr") // Hide the short alias from help output
 	cmd.Flags().Bool("audit", false, "Check dependency health without performing upgrades")
+	cmd.Flags().Bool("pre-releases", false, "Include pre-release versions when checking for extension upgrades")
 	cmd.Flags().Bool("approve", false, "Approve all safe update changes. When strict mode is active (the default), the compiler emits warnings for new restricted secrets or unapproved action additions/removals not present in the existing gh-aw-manifest. Use this flag to approve and skip safe update enforcement")
 	cmd.Flags().Bool("skip-extension-upgrade", false, "Skip automatic extension upgrade (used internally to prevent recursion after upgrade)")
 	_ = cmd.Flags().MarkHidden("skip-extension-upgrade")
@@ -146,7 +149,7 @@ func runDependencyAudit(verbose bool, jsonOutput bool) error {
 }
 
 // runUpgradeCommand executes the upgrade process
-func runUpgradeCommand(ctx context.Context, verbose bool, workflowDir string, noFix bool, noCompile bool, noActions bool, skipExtensionUpgrade bool, approve bool) error {
+func runUpgradeCommand(ctx context.Context, verbose bool, workflowDir string, noFix bool, noCompile bool, noActions bool, skipExtensionUpgrade bool, approve bool, preReleases bool) error {
 	upgradeLog.Printf("Running upgrade command: verbose=%v, workflowDir=%s, noFix=%v, noCompile=%v, noActions=%v, skipExtensionUpgrade=%v",
 		verbose, workflowDir, noFix, noCompile, noActions, skipExtensionUpgrade)
 
@@ -157,7 +160,7 @@ func runUpgradeCommand(ctx context.Context, verbose bool, workflowDir string, no
 	// prevents the re-launched process from entering this branch again.
 	if !skipExtensionUpgrade {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatInfoMessage("Checking gh-aw extension version..."))
-		upgraded, installPath, err := upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(verbose)
+		upgraded, installPath, err := upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(verbose, preReleases)
 		if err != nil {
 			upgradeLog.Printf("Extension upgrade failed: %v", err)
 			return err
@@ -303,7 +306,7 @@ func runUpgradeCommand(ctx context.Context, verbose bool, workflowDir string, no
 
 	// Print success message
 	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "")
-	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatSuccessMessage("✓ Upgrade complete"))
+	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatSuccessMessage("Upgrade complete"))
 
 	return nil
 }

pkg/cli/upgrade_command_test.go

@@ -18,4 +18,8 @@ func TestUpgradeCommandHelpTextConsistency(t *testing.T) {
 	approveFlag := cmd.Flags().Lookup("approve")
 	require.NotNil(t, approveFlag, "--approve flag should exist")
 	assert.Contains(t, approveFlag.Usage, "When strict mode is active", "--approve description should match compile semantics")
+
+	preReleasesFlag := cmd.Flags().Lookup("pre-releases")
+	require.NotNil(t, preReleasesFlag, "--pre-releases flag should exist")
+	assert.Contains(t, preReleasesFlag.Usage, "Include pre-release versions", "--pre-releases description should mention pre-release upgrades")
 }